What if Walt Disney was the producer of Looney Tunes/Walt Disney Animated Classics/The Rescuers/The Rescuers Down Under
The Rescuers Down Under is a 1994 American direct-to-video animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It is the sequel to the 1977 animated film The Rescuers, which was based on the novels of Margery Sharp. Released on May 20, 1994, it was the first Disney direct-to-video animated film and marked the first American direct-to-video animated film. Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor (in one of her last films before her death in 1995) reprised their roles as Bernald and Miss Bianca. It sold 15 million VHS tapes and grossed $300 million, becoming one of the best-selling films on home video. Plot In the Australian outback, a young boy named Cody is told by his friend, a kangaroo called Faloo, about a trapped Great Golden Eagle called Marahute, who is trapped on top of a cliff and that he is the only one who can set her free. After climbing the cliff, Cody rescues the eagle by cutting her bounds. In the process, he is accidentally knocked off the cliff but Marahute swoops down and catches him on her back just before he hits the ground. Befriending Marahute, Cody is taken on a ride through the air before been taken to her nest, where he is shown her three eggs that are close to hatching, and given a feather by her as a token of gratitude for freeing her. Later, the boy falls in a pit-trap by wanted local poacher McLeach. When McLeach finds one of the eagle's feathers in the boy's backpack he is instantly overcome with excitement, for he knows that to capture such a grandiose bird would make him rich. McLeach kidnaps the boy and attempts to force out of him the whereabouts of the rare eagle. Meanwhile, a message is sent to New York to the Rescue Aid Society headquarters, and Bernard and Bianca, the RAS's elite field agents, are assigned to the mission, interrupting Bernard's attempt to propose marriage to Bianca. They go to find Orville, the albatross who aided them previously, but instead find Wilbur, Orville's brother. Bernard and Bianca convince Wilbur to fly them to Australia to save Cody. In Australia, they meet Jake, a kangaroo rat who is the RAS' local regional operative. Jake later flirts with Bianca, much to Bernard's chagrin. He serves as their guide and protector in search of the boy. Wilbur is immobilized when his spinal column is bent out of its natural shape, convincing Jake to consign him to the hospital. Wilbur is taken to a wrecked ambulance where several medical mice “help” him with his back. They rope and put him in a harness which made Wilbur unsure about being left there, when Dr. Mouse orders the Nurse Mice the put a cane in his back, Wilbur begins to panic, even though the doctor tells him to relax, causing the head doctor to have him sedated. Two nurse mice load two syringes with tranquilizer into a double-barreled shotgun and shoot him in the rear. At McLeach's ranch, Cody has been thrown into a cage with several of McLeach's captured animals after refusing to give up Marahute's whereabouts. Cody tries to free the animals but is thwarted by Joanna, McLeach's pet goanna. Back at the hospital truck Wilbur wakes up painfully to find a vice on his head and a heart monitor attached to his beak, much to his dismay. While the head doctor gets ready he orders a set of forceps, sharpe teethed scrissors and a spur, and as the Nurse mice passed each off the “operation tools” Wilbur’s became more and more afraid (which made the heart monitor beep more faster every time his fear increases), but then the spur seemed to be rusted tight so Dr. Mouse orders for a “Epidermal Tissue Disrupter” which turns out to be a chainsaw. Wilbur panics, breaks free and runs for his life. Dr. Mouse and the nurses try to return him to the bed, while Wilbur tries to escape through a window, but then the mice who try to pull him back in and he falls flat back into the ambulance and on top of Dr. Mouse. His back is suddenly straightened up but the doctor’s back is damaged, and Wilbur sets out to find Bernard and Bianca. Back at McLeach's hideout he overheard the rangers talk about Cody and call of the search. McLeach decides to eat some eggs. This excites Joanna and she steals all the eggs while he tries to figure out a way to make Cody give the eagle. He realizes the eagles eggs are Cody's weakness. McLeach secretly lies to Cody telling him that someone else has shot Marahute, tricking Cody into leading him to Marahute's nest. Bernard, Bianca, and Jake, half-aware of what is happening, jump onto McLeach's Half-track to follow him. At Marahute's nest, the three mice try to warn Cody that he has been followed; just as they do, McLeach arrives and captures Cody, along with Marahute, Jake, and Bianca. Wilbur arrives at the nest, whereupon Bernard convinces him to sit on the eagle's eggs, which Bernard had saved from Joanna moments before. McLeach takes Cody and Marahute to Crocodile Falls, where he ties Cody up and hangs him over the eponymous crocodiles. Bernard, riding a type of wild pig called a "razorback", which he had tamed using a horse whispering technique earlier used by Jake, follows and disables McLeach's vehicle, preventing the use of its crane from putting Cody at risk. McLeach then tries to shoot the rope holding Cody above the water. To save Cody, Bernard tricks Joanna into crashing into McLeach, sending them both into the water. The crocodiles chase McLeach, while behind them the damaged rope holding Cody breaks apart. Although McLeach manages to fight off the crocodiles, only Joanna reaches the shoreline while McLeach goes over a much larger waterfall to his death. Bernard dives into the water to save Cody but fails. Jake and Bianca free Marahute in time for her to retrieve Cody and Bernard. Bernard, desperate to avoid any further incidents, proposes to marry Bianca, who accepts eagerly while Jake salutes him with a newfound respect. All of them depart for Cody's home. Wilbur, whom they have neglected to relieve of his task, incubates the eggs until they hatch, much to his dismay. Voice cast Production Release Home video Reception On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Rescuers Down Under has an overall approval rating of 68% based on 25 reviews collected, with a weighted average score of 6.2 out of 10. The critical consensus states: "Though its story is second-rate, The Rescuers Down Under redeems itself with some remarkable production values – particularly its flight scenes". Adaptations Comic Video game Music